The Imo River (Igbo:Imo) is located in southeastern

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and flows into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. In

Akwa Ibom State Akwa Ibom is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It borders Cross River State to the east, Rivers State and Abia State to the west and north-west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The state ...

, the river is known as Imoh River, that is, Inyang Imoh, which translates to ''River of Wealth'' ( means ''river'' or ''ocean'', and means ''wealth''). Its estuary is around wide, and the river has an annual discharge of with 26,000 hectares of

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

. The Imo's tributary rivers are the Otamiri and Oramirukwa. The Imo was cleared under the British colonial administration of Nigeria in 1907–1908 and 1911; first to Aba and then to Udo near

Umuahia Umuahia () is the capital city of Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. Umuahia is located along the rail road that lies between Port Harcourt to its south, and Enugu city to its north. Umuahia has a population of 359,230 according to the 2006 Ni ...

. The deity, or

Alusi Arusi are spirits that are worshipped and served in the Igbo religion. There are many different kinds of Arusi and each has its own purpose and function. Ancestors The Igbo ancestral world is divided into several interconnected realms, principa ...

of the river is the female '' Imo'' who communities surrounding the river believe to be the owner of the river. Mmiri in Ibo or

Igbo language Igbo ( , ; Standard Igbo: ''Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò'' ) is the principal native language cluster of the Igbo people, an ethnicity in the Southeastern part of Nigeria. Igbo languages are spoken by a total of 31 million people. The number of Igbo ...

means water or rain. A festival for the Alusi is held annually between May and July. The Imo River features an bridge at the crossing between

Rivers State Rivers is a states of Nigeria, state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed on 27 May 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Nigeria, Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include Imo State, Im ...

and

. The river god, or Arushi, is a female imo, and the communities surrounding the river believe her to be the river's owner. Imo river was reported by the world Health Organization as one of the most polluted rivers in Nigeria.

Pollution

The river has been said to have coliform bacteria, which makes it unsafe for human consumption. The major supply of drinkable water for Owerri, the Otamiri River, may dry up if people of the state's capital city continue to pollute it, according to a warning from Imo State Water and Sewerage Corporation. The General Manager (GM), Emeka Ugoanyanwu, said over the weekend that locals should not dispose of trash, urinate, bury the dead, and build soak-away pits along the river. A project to deliver clean water to Imo residents will also get underway by January, according to the World Bank. Three monarchs from five autonomous communities in the Owerri municipality were present for a roundtable discussion hosted by the Open Arms Initiative for Sustainable Development when Ugoanyanwu made this announcement. He regretted that the city's pipes had been destroyed during the Urban Renewal program of the previous governor Rochas Okorocha's government, making it difficult for tap water to run into the homes of different parts of the city.

References

Rivers of Nigeria Imo State {{Nigeria-river-stub